“Two Girls Out to Have Fun.”=
Rachel and Magma take some time to visit New York City. They make an interesting pair because they’re both time-displaced. Rachel is a real-live time-traveler and Magma was raised in an isolated forest city based on ancient Rome. Rachel was kept as a sexworker. No, as a mutant hunter. The leather is a little confusing there.
While seeing the sights, Rachel remembers her tragic past–which is the X-Men’s potential tragic future…
Those panels resonate more, since 9/11 took the towers down.
At the same time, there’s another mutant visiting the Big Apple…
Selene, also from Magma’s home of Nova Roma (and the person who killed Magma’s mother), is in town to audition for the role of Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.
Naturally, the two X-Girls crash the party, even if the fashion is triggering for Rachel. A fight breaks out.
The girls get involved…
…When the rest of the X-Men show up…
The mutants were in town for Storm’s farewell party.
Storm’s powers are still gone as a result of Forge’s neutralizer, based on ROM technology, that was used against Storm by the U.S. Government.
She seems to be becoming an alcoholic…
So, she’s returning to her homeland of Africa and says goodbye to her teammates.
The fight against Hellfire Club has no lasting implications–it’s pretty much a stalemate.
And as a prelude to the future, the Kulan Gath amulet is unleashed.
This is probably the second-greatest period for the X-Men, after the John Byrne run and closely followed by the Claremont/Cockrum run. This book was really, really good for a really, really long time!